The Mysterious “Mourning Goats” Gave Me the 20-Questions

I’m not the first to face off against the infamous Mourning Goats. In fact, I’m No. 59. I like odd numbers. 59 seems like a number given to the underdog. I’m fine with that.

Among questions dealing with the writing craft and my role at Civil Coping Mechanisms, Goats asks me about my next book, The Laughter of Strangers. This may or may not be the first time I’ve explained the basic premise of the novel. Here’s what I said:

The Laughter of Strangers is about a boxer celebrity named Willem Floures on the tail end of his career, struggling to remain the current “most noteworthy” version of himself. This is a world where fighting in the ring means fighting yourself. You face the versions that decided differently; you wage war with the versions that want to be the penultimate, the one that best represents “Willem Floures.” This is a story about the version that had it all and yet still wants more, he wants to keep fighting and is willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means losing himself in the process.